Macbeth |
The Great Bed of Ware England, 1590-1600 Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK |
The Great Bed of Ware has long been famous for its size: twice the size of a modern double bed. As early as 1601, Sir Toby Belch in Shakespeare's Twelfth Nights described a sheet as 'big enough for the bed of Ware'. Over three metres wide, it regularly slept four couples but probably not 'twenty-six butchers and their wives' as sometimes claimed. The bed has long been part of local -and museum- folklore.
Postcards sent by Laura (UK), added to my Shakespeare album.
But how do you get the Bed of Ware upstairs????
ReplyDeleteWhen you own a palace you don't worry about those small details, I guess :D
DeleteBy the way, in our palace, getting a double bed upstairs is impossible, and it is also impossible to enter on through the balcony. So our bed now is actually two individual beds together!